Neurobiological and Relational Bases for Understanding Aggressiveness

The Person and the Challenges Volume 10 (2020) Number 1, p. 155–176 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15633/pch.3615 Saša Poljak Lukek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9833-0339 University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Tanja Valenta ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3924-9607 Franciscan Family Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia Neurobiological and Relational Bases for Understanding Aggressiveness* Abstract Aggression is a deliberate, proactive or impulsive, defensive or active act, expressed through the use of physical power or psychological pressure. As such, it is a significant element of violent behaviour. According to developmental stages, aggression is expressed in various forms and is associated with the specific ways of regulating the feelings of shame and anger. We assume that excessive exposure and interrupted contact in development can lead to a specific regulation of the affects of shame and anger in a person who, because he feels threatened, can transform these feelings into aggressive behaviour. In addition, the dysregulated affects can lead to the dissociation of emotional experience, and thus to the inability to feel empathy, which allows for deliberate or proactive aggressiveness. Furthermore, the text presents the basic conclusions of research in the neurobiological understanding of aggression. The aggressive action is characterized by the specific functioning of the prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Abuse in childhood and relational trauma are presented as a starting point for the specific functioning of the brain and specific affect regulation, which can also be associated with aggressive behaviour in adulthood. * The authors acknowledge partial financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency (project No. J5-9349). 156 The Person and the Challenges Volume 10 (2020) Number 1, p. 155 –176 Keywords Aggression, neurobiology, relational paradigm, emotional regulation. 1. The definition of aggression Violence, which is expressed through aggressive behaviour, is a widespread and complex phenomenon that is classified in many ways, depending on who the victim of violence/aggression is (whether it is a violent act against oneself or against another person), on the way in which violence/aggression is carried out (verbally, mentally, directly, indirectly) and on the cause of violent/ aggressive behaviour (e.g. a medical cause).1 One of the definitions is that by the World Health Organization2, which defines violence as „the deliberate use of physical force or power, either as a threat or actually, against oneself, another person or against a group or community, that results in or has a high likelihood to cause bodily injury, death, psychological damage, a setback in growth (development) or the deprivation of things necessary for development.” Violence occurs at various levels, and it is especially painful in the form of relational trauma, which means that it is carried out by a person close to the victim, e.g. a family member. We speak of two main types of aggression: 1. Affective, active, impulsive, reactive or defensive aggression, uncontrolled due to uncontrolled impulses and affects – this includes a hypothalamic s y mp at h e t i c ventromedial nucleus.3 It is accompanied by anger, rage and hostility and occurs as a response to frustration or provocation, initially because of the need to stop an intense unpleasant affect which causes stress.4 2. A thought-out, proactive form of aggression, a planned, targeted form of violence – this includes the p a r a s y mp at h e t i c lateral hypothalamus, which is also activated in the so-called tonic immobility and dissociation.5 In this 1 L. J. Siever, Neurobiology of aggression and violence, “American Journal of Psychiatry” 165 (2008) 4, pp. 429–442. 2 3 4 World Health Organization, World report on violence and health, Geneva 2002, WHO. C. Gostečnik, Relacijska paradigma in travma, Ljubljana 2008, Brat Frančišek. D. R. Rosell, L. J. Siever, The neurobiology of aggression and violence, “CNS Spectrums” 20 (2015), pp. 254–279. 5 C. Gostečnik, Relacijska paradigma in travma, Ljubljana 2008, Brat Frančišek; A. N. Schore, Affect regulation and the repair of the self, New York 2003, W. W. Norton&Company. Saša Poljak Lukek, Tanja Valenta Neurobiological and Relational Bases… 157 case, thenegative affect of anger or rage is not necessarily present. Usually it is the perpetrator who begins a violent act, often without provocation, and he is particularly motivated by the expectation of obtaining something important, such as things, a reward, power, social dominance.6 This distinction is important because it refers to two very different organic systems that are strongly linked and dependent on the impact of different attachment styles.7 Reactive and proactive aggression often coexist and are interconnected. These two types of aggression are characteristic of borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder in adults.8 The differences between these two aggressive responses are also the result of brain development in these individuals; reactive aggression is associated with the past experience of abuse, negative emotions and impulsiveness. Proactive aggression, on the other hand, is associated with past psychopathology, physical aggression and violent criminal acts.9 The WHO10 reports that there are approximately 1.43 million persons who die annually due to the consequences of aggressive behaviour, either as violence against themselves or as the victims of violent acts committed by others (the victims of war are not included in this number). The number of victims who survive aggression is even much higher. According to research, there is a crucial link between genetic and social factors in the case of aggressive and anti-social behaviour in childhood, later in adolescence and especially in adulthood.11 Social factors that are of key importance are family and cultural environment and socio-economic factors in an 6 D. R. Rosell, L. J. Siever, The neurobiology of aggression and violence, “CNS Spectrums” 20 (2015), pp. 254–279. 7 P. Fonagy et al., Affect regulation, mentalization, and development of self, New York 2007, NY: Other press; J. B. Kaplow, C. S. Widom, Age of onset of child maltreatment predicts long-term mental health outcomes, “Journal of Abnormal Psychology” 116 (2007), pp. 176–187; C. Gostečnik, Relacijska paradigma in travma, Ljubljana 2008, Brat Frančišek; A. N. Schore, Affect regulation and the repair of the self, New York 2003, W. W. Norton&Company. 8 S. Fazel, J. Danesh, Serious mental disorder in 23.000 prisoners: a systematic review of 62 surveys. “Lancet” 359 (2002), pp. 545–550. 9 D. R. Rosell, L. J. Siever, The neurobiology of aggression and violence, “CNS Spectrums” 20 (2015), pp. 254–279. 10 World Health Organization, Third milestone of a global campaign for violence prevention report2007: Scaling up, Geneva 2007, WHO. (...truncated)